The Bird and the Soldier
by T. W. Quill
Summary: The Winter Soldier is in Bludhaven, home of Nightwing, looking for the hero. Why does he need him? Why is he so determined to acquire his help? Will Nigthwing help him, or die trying?
1. Recruitment

**This is a new version of the original chapter I posted. If you haven't read the old version, it's no big deal. If you have, you will notice some changes (hopefully you think they're good changes).  
**

 **The story still takes place loosely between Fear itself 7.1 & Longest Winter [Marvel], and between Batman Incorporated #8 & Nightwing #18 (new 52) [DC].**

 **Disclaimer: characters and locations belong to DC and Marvel, respectively. Events and story by** **The Writers Quill (aka me)  
**

* * *

 _Time: 03:06 hours_

 _Location: Blüdhaven, NJ_

 _First Mission: recruitment  
_

-•-

Dark, heavy clouds rolled angrily overhead. The rain was blinding.

The shadow created by the spiraling bell tower of St. Bernadine's Cathedral was dark and murky. It was from this shadow that the intense, highly trained eyes of a soldier scanned the skyline of Blüdhaven.

The soldier watched the night, searching; unimpeded due to his heightened senses and top of the line equipment. It was a needle in a haystack chase he knew, but he needed someone as highly trained as himself for this mission.

A small smirk arose on his lips. Actually, if he was being honest with himself, between the two of them he'd have to give the other man a slight edge. They were both extremely well trained, by the best he knew, but the innate capabilities of his quarry were far to well known and revered to be anything less than respected, perhaps even feared. He himself had been gifted also, but having been brawled to a standstill by the other man on a few prior occasions lead him to respect the young mans agility and grace as much as his own fighting prowess. So, having tested his targets limits knew that he was indeed the man for the job.

He also knew where to find him. Perhaps that was the downside to being part of such a famous family.

An hour later, and his constant watch had not yielded results. He was beginning to wonder if he had missed his mark.

 _"I can't afford that,"_ he thought, _"this mission is too important, I need to find him now!"_ As if on cue, an agile form streaked across the view of his binoculars headed west from his position. _"Got'cha!"_

Replacing his looking glasses to their pouch, he took leave of his hiding spot on the bell tower and, firing a grappling hook, followed a parallel path to his objective.

* * *

 _"It would have to rain tonight."_ Dick thought as he stealthily made his way back towards his home on the other side of the city.

He had not been in a good state of sorts lately. It was one month ago tonight that his youngest brother, his partner for many months until their father had returned from the dead (or the past depending on how you looked at it), had been killed by his own mother. Indirectly of course, but that was a formality in his mind. For first time in a long time, he had wished the Bat Family did kill, at least her kind.

That is why many of Blüdhaven's thugs were in police custody in hospitals tonight. The memory of his brother had fueled his every punch. One good thing about the rain; he didn't have to wash the blood off his uniform. _  
_

Dick had hoped to have the strength to go home to Gotham this weekend and spend some time with his father and brother in the wake of the Wayne family's most recent loss. Neither had been completely right since Damien's death either. Even Jason had come around to try and help ease the pain somehow, seemingly the only Bat unaffected by the recent death. It must have been some act of God to convince him to even set foot in the Bat Cave of his own volition, but the former Robin had made his remorse and support known in his own way.

~•~

Twenty minutes later, Nightwing landed on backend of a rooftop, behind a air conditioning unit. His motorbike was parked in the alley below. He was about to descend to the street below and start his final leg home when he heard a noise behind him; the small scraping thud of a foot sliding slightly as it landed on the wet roof. _"Great!"_ He thought. The exhausted hero took his tricked-out escrima sticks from his back and readied himself for yet another fight. When no attack came he started to think of other options.

The footfall he had heard was not heavy enough to be Bruce (whenever Batman actually made a sound), and was way too heavy to be Tim. Jason fit the bill but had no reason for being there; however, that didn't mean his younger brother had not come to see him. Perhaps he was upset over their little brothers death after all.

One way to know for sure.

Dick turned towards where he had heard the sound. "You may as well come out since I know you're there." He said, doing his best to keep his voice even. He heard more footsteps behind him once again. He looked at the wall beside of him. A figure, about Jason's size and build, stood behind him but the figures hair, he could tell, was too long to be his brother.

 _"So family's out. Crap. I'm so not in the mood for this!"_

"Look I've gone through a lot of muggers, would-be rapists, petty goons and two supposedly trained assassins tonight, so can we take a rain check on whatever this is about?"

"It's already raining."

 _"Oh for the love of - Wait. I know that voice,"_ he thought. _"But from where?"_ Dick turned to face the determined voice, dreading another fight. Dick's eyes grew wide; he did not have time to think about hiding the his reaction. The sight before him was almost too much to be believed.

Clad in a midnight-blue body suit with a black, leather strap that ran across the chest; a weapon holster attached on the mans right side; a domino mask, similar to his own, covered the mans pale face as chin length brown hair framed it; but the most glaring thing about his appearance was the mans silver left arm. Even though he could not see it in the darkness, Dick knew there was a red star on its shoulder.

This was the garb of The Winter Soldier; one of the worlds most feared and fiercest fighters, best strategists, and most lethal men alive. But he was not alive, not anymore. The Winter Soldier the one and true Winter Soldier - James Buchanan Barns aka Bucky, Captain America's sidekick who had been lost in battle, found by the Russians and turned into a super weapon - he was dead; killed at the hands of Sin.

Dick wanted it to be true, he wanted it so badly! Could it be possible though? Of course it could: Barry Allen, Clark Kent, even his own father had come back from the "dead", but with his mind clouded by the recent events in his family it did not seem very possible at the moment; which meant that this man was an impostor!

"How dare you impersonate The Winter Soldier!" Before James could even attempt to explain, Nightwing's fist was flying past his face. He barely managed to dodge the blow thanks to the amount of distance between them.

"Nightwing! Stop! Let me explain!" But the young hero was not listening.

"He was an American hero!" Nightwing said as he came at him again. This time as his arm flew past, James grabbed it and forced it behind Nightwing's back. He grunted, but from pain or anger James could not tell. James grunted as he held the other man. "You think you can just take up his name and legacy and move on? You're a disgrace!" Nightwing yelled at him.

James was taken aback; touched by Nightwing's response to seeing him. However the fact still remained, "I'm not impersonating him. I _am_ Winter Soldier."

Nightwing nearly pulled himself from James' grasp at this. "Buddy, if you think I'm going to take you at your word for that just because you wear a similar suit or something then you're dumber than you think I am!" He said as he continued to struggle.

"On the contrary, I know exactly how smart you are." James let him go, pushing him away in the process.

"Then bring it!" Nightwing prepared for an attack, his batons poised.

There was a hissing sound as James twisted his own arm. _CLANK!_ His powerful prosthetic hit the flat roof in front of Nightwing. James put his remaining hand up. "Okay? I've literally 'disarmed' myself. Now will you listen to me?"

He saw the whites of Nightwing's mask widen in surprise - even shock. It looked as if the protector of Blüdhaven did not know what to do.

Finally, Nightwing stood at-ease and replaced his weapons in the holster on his back. "Why are you here? How are you alive?" He asked.

James looked around. The roof they were speaking was above an alley, and therefore not exactly secure. "Is there a place we can talk?" James asked. "I'd rather not risk anyone else seeing me, seeing as how I'm suppose to be dead."

"You risked coming to Blüdhaven to find me, you can risk standing here." Apparently he had failed to convince the young hero that he was indeed the real Winter Soldier; even so the kid was pushing his luck.

"Not with the sensitive information I have to tell you." James said more forcefully.

Nightwing was silent. He looked around for a moment. Finally he said, "Follow me."

Nightwing walked past him ignoring the arm on the ground. "Don't you want to take that?" James asked.

"Don't you need it to get around?" Nightwing asked in reply.

James simply shrugged.

Nightwing squinted at him before turning towards the next building and shooting a grappling line from his wrist. He took off in a Northeastern direction. James picked up his arm and replaced it before taking off after him.

* * *

 **So, this was a random piece I wrote years ago, and just decided to post kinda out-of-the-blue. Chapter two should be out this weekend [7/9-10/16]!  
**

~•~

 **The new version has a little better description and flow, I think. Also I now have a better handle on the story going forward, so I wanted to fix it up for that reason as well. If you read the previous one, do you like the new version, or do you prefer the old one?**

 **Either way, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, do me a solid and let me know in a review please : )**

 **~T. W. Quill**

~•~

 **Cliff note: Sin is the Red Skull's daughter. She worked with Crossbones to assassinate Captain America/Steve Rogers.**


	2. Still Recruitment

**A/N: If you read chapter one in June, you may want to reread it as I have changed it a bit since then. If you're new though, then this does not apply (the new version is better, I think. You didn't miss anything).**

 **Now, on with the show!**

* * *

 _Time: 04:39 hours_

 _Location: Blüdhaven, NJ_

 _Still First Mission: recruitment_

~•~

Dick landed in the alleyway beside the bar he currently worked for near the Red Line South. The owner was out of town for the week, so the place was closed. The place had a patio which was made with wooden planks that created the walls around the entire width of it. These slats would give some privacy and thus he figured would make be a good place to talk. Dick quickly made his way into the outdoor structure followed closely by this Winter Solider.

"How do I know I'm talking to the real Winter Soldier and not some carbon copy? Plenty of clones, shape-shifters, and God knows what else out there." Dick asked as soon as they both stood within the four walls of the courtyard.

"If surrendering my arm didn't convince you," this Winter Soldier began. "then I don't know what will. My identity is public, and I'm sure you and Batman know pretty much everything there is to know about me, so I guess you're just going to have to trust me."

Nightwing eyes squinted so tight they nearly shut. "You're suppose to be dead. I assume you have an explanation for that?"

This Winter Solider seemed unfazed by his question. "The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated by Directer Furry for security purposes.

Just then, James thought of something. "By the way, I wanted to apologize once more for breaking your ribs the last time we saw each other before Cap's "funeral". SHIELD business. You know how it is."

 _"That's what he said-… But he- I…. Okay, so maybe he is the real mccoy."_ Dick thought.

"How'd you find me?" Nightwing asked, after being thoughtful for a while, the ire mostly gone from his voice.

"Since this is your city I assumed you would show up sooner or later. Once I spotted you, I simply followed you on your patrol; not for long mind you." The Winter Soldier replied.

"Why are you here?" Nightwing asked.

James looked the other man in the eye. "I need your help." Nightwing gave him a surprised look.

"You need _my_ help?" Nightwing asked.

"Yes."

"Why not go to the Avengers? Or Captain America, or-"

"Because the other Avengers can't know that I'm alive, and Cap is away on a mission."

"And I can!? Besides, someone knows you're alive. Why not go to them?"

"Because they're not as well trained as you are."

"I'm flattered." Nightwing said.

James continued. "This is strictly off the record. No one knows I'm here, and no one'll know that I've revealed myself to you, not even SHIELD."

Nightwing hesitated for a moment then remarked, "This sounds an awful lot like ah, 'I'll tell ya, but I'll have ta kill ya' kind of deal."

James smiled despite the seriousness of the situation. "I promise you it's not."

Nightwing was pensive for a moment, then, with a deep sigh, nodded. "Fine. I'm listening."

With that James began; "Two months ago, Black Widow went on a mission to investigate a lead we got on a factory in Russia that was supposedly manufacturing and distributing chemical weapons to terrorist in the Middle East and North Korea. Per SHIELD protocol, she would check in with HQ at the end of each week, however, three weeks ago her calls stopped coming in. SHIELD's files say they sent out a task force to find her, and the mission report from that says they didn't find anything,"

"Let me guess, they actually _did_ find something."

"No, they never _sent_ a task force!" James took a breath as emotion began to seep into his voice. "I went to my superior about it; he said he'd look into the matter."

"What did he say?" Nightwing asked.

"Nothing so far, and I haven't been able to contact him since."

Nightwing's face contorted in a confused look. He began to pace back and forth. "It doesn't make sense!" He said finally. "I know how SHIELD works. They wouldn't leave one of their top agents in need of a rescue without even checking it out,"

"Not just a top agent, she's the top agent. Black Widow has a direct line to Fury, is his most trusted ally and most useful asset. We have to get her back ASAP!" James stopped a moment. He could see the doubt on the young man's face; whether in his identity, his story or something else James was unsure. "Look, I know our two organizations aren't exactly friends, or especially fond of sharing members, but if the secrets Black Widow holds are discovered by HYDRA, or anyone else, we're all in hot water!"

Dick knew The Winter Soldier was right. Natasha Romanova would never willing betray SHIELD, but in this day-n-age many organizations had ways of making someone talk without the need of their lips moving. If Black Widow had indeed been captured by Hydra then they were in a race against the clock. Dick knew what he had to do.

"I understand that," Nightwing took a deep breath. "Which is why, I don't think I'm the man you want. Not right now, at least. Maybe not ever." He said to himself. With that, he turned to leave.

James stood in the patio surprised to say the least. This did not seem like the young man he had been studying for the last few days. "That doesn't sound like the man that just took down half of Drew Flaconi's gang in one night."

Nightwing turned toward him his eyes narrowed once more. "You sure are determined."

"I always get my target."

"Not this time." Nightwing replied, starting to walk away. He stopped a moment. "For what it's worth, I am sorry. But I'm sure you'll find someone else." With that, Nightwing walked into the alley behind the pub.

James followed close behind; he was not going to give up so easily. "You know," he started as he entered the alley. Nightwing stopped. "I studied you - your work. You've fought meta-humans, and some of the worlds top assassins. You've lead several teams made up mostly of meta's, faced some of the worst criminals and most damaged minds this world has to offer, and you're still standing - thriving even."

"What's your point?" Nightwing asked.

"…I don't know. I guess I just thought you would be up to the challenge is all. Guess I made a mistake." With that Nightwing turned to leave.

James heard Nightwing fire his grapple to the nearest roof, and the zip of the rope as he swung away.

He blew out a puff of air from his chest. _"D***it!"_ He thought as he turned back to watch the agile figure disappeared into the distance. _"Looks like I'm out of options."_

* * *

 **I hope you've enjoyed chapter two! Also, I've decided to make this fic my main focus right now, so chapter three should be up sooner than two was.**

 **Please feel free to share your thoughts in a review if you would like, and thank you for reading!  
**

 **~T. W. Quill**


	3. Sleep

_Time: 05:12 hours_

 _Location: Blüdhaven, NJ_

 _Mission; Sleep_

It was five o'clock in the morning when Dick finally hopped off the roof onto the deck of his penthouse apartment. He took off his tactical gloves before touching the patio door to keep any residue of his night escapades from getting on the knob; a paranoid habit he had picked up in his youth.

After locking the door behind himself, he walked into the kitchen giving the adrenalin time to ebb from his system so he could settling in for the day. It was nice that he didn't have to go to work this week.

 _"Your hero thinks you're a coward."_ The words echo in his mind likes shouts into a cave.

He opened his fridge. _"Right now, I don't care."_ He thought, snatching a water bottle from the shelf. He stood there a moment letting the chilled vapor fall onto his steaming, sticky suit.

 _"Yes you do."_ He heard again. _"It's eating away at you, and you can't help it."_

Dick's eyebrows furrowed. He did not have the energy for this; not now. _"I can if I go to sleep."_ He replied, defying the words of the voice in his head.

 _"You've wanted for so long to work with him; you get your chance and what do you do? You turn him down. You blew it kid. You failed. Just like you did with Robin."_

"SHUT UP!" Dick shouted, slamming the refrigerator door. He wiped a cooled mixture of sweat and rainwater from his forehead before heading into his living room and plopping down on the couch; bottle in hand. Dick shook his head violently, trying to repel the water and thoughts from his head, as he slumped back in his seat; resting his head on the top of the sofa.

A thick wave of drowsiness swept over him. He had been up for over twenty-four hours. _"I guess I shouldn't fall asleep in my living room like this."_ Dick slowly pulled himself up from the sectional and dragged himself back to his bedroom; located just off the living room. Finally, he collapsed on his bed, costume and all. He could take it off it later. Fortunately he had left the blinds drawn on his window.

Dick lay there, in all his heroic, glory for over an hour, but sleep would not take him. The same thoughts, in scads of remixed phrases, kept repeating in his brain keeping him awake. He turned over onto his back.

 _"Can't keep thinking about this! I need sleep! Have to go home - see Bruce, Tim. 'No, you have to keep the world from coming apart at the seams! Don't you understand that?' I understand I'm keeping it from doing just that, by not putting it in anymore danger because I'm pretty sure I have no business being out there right now. 'And what, pray-tell, gives you the idea that you have no business being out there?' Oh, I don't know, the fact that I am mentally arguing with myself comes to mind. My god, I'm turning into Bruce!"_

"What's the matter with me!" He wondered aloud.

 _"You really need to ask?"_

Dick groaned and took his phone from his pocket.

* * *

Barbra Gordon turned over in bed hearing a buzzing sound from the direction of her nightstand. Groaning, she reached over and grabbed her vibrating phone. She glanced at the number before answering. "This better be good Dick," she said after hitting the 'answer call' button.

"I'm sorry." Came a weak, tired voice.

"Don't be sorry be to-the-point. I have to be up for work in," she pulled her cell away from her face to look at its clock, "twenty minutes."

"Sorry, again."

She could hear his pout over the phone. She sighed, her anger easing. "What is it?" She asked, trying to soften her voice.

"I had a visitor in The Haven tonight," he said.

"Wanna tell me who?"

"It's not important," The bat's were constantly leave out the 'who' and 'why' of a mission that did not concern the others, so Barbra knew, even though it irked her, that if Dick left something out, it was probably for her benefit, not his. Besides, she was used to it. "But they asked for my help with something and I turned them down."

"Were they upset?"

"Yes, but they didn't force the issue."

"But you feel like you should help." He always did. It was one of the things she loved about him. It was also something that got him into a lot of trouble at times.

"Right, but… at the same time, no I don't."

"Why not? Are they a bad guy of something? It's not Slade again is it?"

"No! No, that's not the problem, it's… I don't know." Barbra could just see her long time boyfriend now; standing somewhere in his apartment, probably his bedroom wearing a deeper rut into the carpet of his rug.

He was doubting himself, again. This, somehow, was about Damien.

"Dick, sit down."

"How'd-"

"Shut up and listen," She heard the familiar creek of the bed in the back ground. "You don't think you can do it - whatever you've been asked to do - right?"

"…Right." Came the quiet response after a long moment.

"Why not?"

"…Babs, I let him die!" There it was. "I was there, and I couldn't save him!"

"No! You were trapped, you couldn't get to him! All of you were."

"I put him in that suit, Barbra! He was my responsibility!"

"But you weren't his father! And didn't make him into a brash, bratty, headstrong little boy who got himself killed." "If you ask me it was just a matter of time." She thought, but would never say. "They both, got themselves killed." Dick often blamed himself for Jason's death also.

"It doesn't matter. I couldn't stop it, and now he's gone."

"You're right. He's gone, and you couldn't stop it. But Dick, you are not responsible for everyone else' choices-"

"This has nothing to do with their choices!"

"It has everything to do with it! Damien choose to fight that clone alone instead of escaping until free you all could free yourselves which is what he should have done! He chose to not back down from that fight. He choose to let his ego push him to do something stupid and he paid the price for his actions.

"You keep wanting to take the blame because you still want to protect him and his reputation, even in your own mind, like any good big brother would, but you can't. You're not responsible for his death, he was. You want to put his bad decisions on your head.

"I know you think you could have helped him more, or done more to help him change, but you can only help someone as much as they will let you. You want to blame yourself, but you can't because it's not your fault, and what happened to Damien has no baring on your skill, character or achievements!"

There was a long span of silence, like dead silence. Dick had muted his phone. He did not want her to hear his sobs.

He knew she was right, that he couldn't keep covering for Damien despite how much he wanted to, despite how much he wanted to protect his brothers memory, he couldn't do so without denying the truth. Damien Wayne was the worst eleven year old he had ever met. He had hated his attitude and did not like working with him at first, but Damien was his brother, and like all of the Bat family he came around.

So much so that, after Bruce had "died", he gave his brother the Robin suit; the suit of his legacy, not Bruce's legacy, his. Damian had died in that suit. Barbra was right though, if Damien had done as he had been taught he might still be here, but he hadn't; he made a choice like he had always done, and it just so happened that this one cost him his life.

He had to accept that.

Dick took a deep breath before un-muting his phone. "Thank you Babs." He said, gratefulness oozing from his tired vocal chords like the tears from his eyes.

He heard Barbra sigh. "Anytime. Can I go back to sleep now?"

Dick chuckled, a weight gone from his chest. "Nope. You have to go to work."

"Crap!"

Dick laughed. "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, tell me when you finally propose."

Dick smiled as he heard her hang up. Good ol' Babs, always there with whatever he needed to hear when he needed to hear it. Dick looked at his clock. It was quarter till six. _"Hope I'm not too late."_ He got up quickly, thoughts of getting some sleep evaporating.

* * *

 **So this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expect, so as a result, most of the banter between these two that I've written is in a later chapter (chapter 5). However, since I have a few chapters somewhat written now, I'll be posting every Sunday, hopefully :)  
**


	4. Mission Failed

_Time: 05:44 hours; six-teen minutes to zero hour  
Location: Blüdhaven, NJ  
Original Mission - failed; New Mission - search and rescue, secrets and consequences be damned!  
The Bludhaven Airport was a busy place even at almost six in the morning._

* * *

James had been using the place as a hideout for his equipment, or rather, an abandoned military outpost from World War I that was about 300 yards up a slight embankment, and passed the dense swamp.

James kept an eye out as he finished his checks on the instrument panel of a Quin-jet he had "borrowed" for the mission. It was a long way to Russia, and he wanted to make sure the craft was in tiptop shape before departing. Since his one hope had left him high'n dry, and every hour was vital, James had decided waiting any longer was not an option.

As he was working on the autopilot, programing his route, when he stopped; hearing a sound. He stepped out of the Quin-Jet and listened. It was getting louder. A soft buzzing sound was rising from behind the air field. Without thinking, James drew his gun and headed towards the back of the hanger, and ducked into what would be a slight corner behind the back door. The buzzing, he now recognized, was the hum of a small - probably motorcycle - engine. The pitch was rising. It was getting closer, fast. He clicked off his guns safety.

A plane took off at the airport in front of him, the rumble causing a loud noise to rake through the area as it went overhead, headed towards its destination. When it was finally out of rang, James listened for the buzzing again. Nothing. Disgruntled, James re-holstered his gun, but left the safety off.

" _Boo_ -" Someone said from above.

 _POP!_ James fired his gun into the rafters cutting off the voice. He saw no one.

"Careful! You could put somebodies eye out with that thing." The voice said, the sound echoing through the hanger.

James finally spotted the black clad figure as he moved almost undetectably through the buildings beams. His white "eyes" obvious against the curved, ebony ceiling.

"I could have shot you!" James fussed as the young man came down from his perch and landed in front of him.

"What, no 'hello, how are you'? And here I thought someone from the 40's would have better manners." Nightwing said, a confidence to his voice that had been absent a few hours ago. He looked over James' shoulder at the table along the near wall. "Not waiting to find another travel companion I take it." Nightwing said, having noted the nature of the papers on the desk.

"How'd you find me here?" James asked as he holstering his gun.

Nightwing's face took on a cocky smirk. "This is my city, I know all the secret places time and people have forgotten."

"Okay. Why are you here?"

A dark ora, visible behind his mask, moved over the young mans features. "I wanted to apologize for blowing you off. Truth is, I haven't been in a good place recently. If you still need my help I'll do it."

James had heard about the most recent Robin's death. He had meant to mention his condolences earlier, but had become distracted with the task at hand. "I'm sorry for your loss. He was a hero."

Nightwing nodded. "Thank you." Sadness pricked the young mans voice for a moment. He smiled then said, "He was a brat." as his cocky returned.

James leaned back, resting himself against the desk. "Why'd you change your mind?"

"I had a good talk with a good friend. Don't worry, I didn't tell them anything." Nightwing added likely seeing the look on his face. "So, what do you say, do I still have a chance to work with the worlds greatest spy?"

James hesitated for a moment; could he truly count on this young man? He doubted himself once already. Would he doubt himself in the heat of this mission and risk his and Natasha's lives in the process? Not if the film was right.

James held out his hand to the other man who took it eagerly. "Thank you for coming back."

"I'm just sorry I didn't accept to begin with. So, I take it we're leaving soon?" Nightwing said motioning to the plane behind him.

"You're leaving soon."

"What do you mean?" A realization dawned on Nightwing's face. "You're not going?"

"Nope. I'm 'dead' remember." James said matter-o-fact-ly.

"You weren't dead a minute ago; you were getting ready to take off!" Nightwing exclaimed, sounding somewhat upset.

"The Russians know me. They know my skills, my tactics and will be on the lookout for them and me. That's one reason why I needed someone else for this."

"You were still gettin' ready to take off." Nightwing grumbled.

"And now I don't have too. Thanks for that."

Nightwing rolled his eyes.

James turned to face the table that was behind him, moving over so the other man could see. The desk was covered in papers and charts some of which were in Russian. "These are the navigation charts for your route." James said as he bent over the old, brown, wooden table he had been leaning on.

"Still haven't gone digital huh?" Nightwing said, a wry smirk on his face.

"I find modern technology unreliable sometimes. Thankfully, Stark Industries - at least his Quin-jets - are fairly reliable."

"Which explains why SHIELD hasn't busted down my door to take you back to the "grave"."

"I've programmed your route, so you don't have to actually fly the plane."

James took Nightwing into the cockpit of the plane, "You see that yellow button there?"

"Yes."

"That's your autopilot."

"I know. I've flown a Quin before."

"Okay then smart guy. Here," James handed the young man an envelope. "This contains all the information you'll need about how to navigate the area I'm sending you too without standing out to the locals. Under that sheet," He pointed to a bundle in the cargo bay portion of the jet, "Are the supplies you'll need once you land including transportation and wardrobe. Follow these instructions to the letter.

"I'll keep an eye on your flight remotely until you're over the Russian border." HE searched through the maps on the table until he found his main chart. It was old, from the 60's it looked like, and was mostly blue in color which is why the recent red marker strokes on it stood out more than usual. "I've programed the autopilot to guide you over this portion of the Russian border." James pointed to said area as he spoke. "Once you're inside, you'll be on your own as far as radio assistance, since maintaining radio contact would instantly give away your presence. The auto pilot will still work, of course."

"Right,"

"Once you get in, use this," He handed Nightwing an old timey radio. "Widow broadcasts a trojan homing beacon on one of Hydra's old networks which should lead you too her."

"What if Hydra's discovered the beacon and shut it off?"

"Then we're back to square one."

"You're back to square one! I'm on square get-the-h***-outta-dodge!"

James chuckled. "I apologize for the spars briefing, but I've had to come up with all of this it on short notice."

Nightwing shook his head, "No big. I've gone into worse with less."

"Thanks for understanding. Any questions?"

"One: how do you know where to fly over the border so I'm the closest?"

"I can receive small amounts of the frequency from here, but I can't pinpoint her position."

"Ah, got it!"

James looked at his watch and cursed. It was 6:16; pasted time to leave. "Time, to go! You ready?"

"Not really, but lets do it anyway."

James grabbed the young mans arm. "I'm serious, _are you ready for this_?"

Nightwing took a step back, stood straight at attention and saluted. There was no humor in his face.

"Sir, yes sir!"

James saluted back to him, a small smile escaping his lips. "Then lets do this!"


	5. En Route

_Time: 12:45 hours_  
 _Exact Location(s): Classified_  
 _Mission Status: En Route_

* * *

Dick stretched himself; uncoiling his limbs and torso as he awoke from his slumber. It was hard for him to keep his eyes open after he had taken off. He had not slept much in the past several days. The only reason he had allowed himself to give in to the natural need is the fact the plane's autopilot engaged the moment he hit cruising altitude.

He looked out the windows before him at the world. The ocean was a glassy sheet of blue rippling below, reflecting the sky and sun above. The sky itself was mostly hazy ahead as the ocean met the horizon, but the portion above was a striking, rich, warm blue.

Dick sat up from the pilots seat before searching for the button that engaged the auto pilot; its orange-yellow light was blinking steadily. He sat back, relaxing.

 _"Well Dick, you're really on your way to Russia to rescue one of SHIELD's top agents and an Avenger. Let me ask myself something, how do you get yourself into these sorts of things? Just lucky I guess."_ He chuckled to himself. _"I'm weird…or tired…I'll go with tired."_

The Winter Soldier had shoved an earpiece into his hand for before he had taken off. Dick took that earpiece for his pocket and put it in his ear and clicked a button on the side.

* * *

James sat in "his" small shoe-box of an apartment in the Bronx; his hideaway away from his hideaway at SHIELD. He had his military laptop (which he had freed from any tracking devices) in front of him on his bed as he watched Nightwing's automated flight. In his ear was an ear piece to hear/communicate with the Gothamite's plane, and on the IKEA nightstand was a Coke and PB&J sandwich. All the essentials.

He remotely turned on the autopilot of the Quinjet as soon as Nightwing was at cruising altitude. Incidentally, he began to hear snoring about the same time. He did not hear anything from Nightwing, save for the snoring, for several hours.

 _"Poor kid. He may not have slept in days, and now he's flying all the way to Russia for me. Maybe I should have gone with him."_ However, it was to late now, Nightwing had already been in the air for several hours, and bringing him back would cost precious time. Also, flying over there behind him increased the possibility that Russia would catch on. _"He seemed disappointed when he found out I wasn't going."_ James thought as he considered their most recent exchange. Come to think of it, it had been really easy to discern Nightwing's moods. Perhaps that was something he could help the young man work on.

" _This is the Wing O' Night comin' at ya'll from about 33,000 feet. Anybody out there on the ol' SHIELD net?_ " James almost laughed out loud as Nightwing's voice, which was twisted into a stereotypical Southern accent, suddenly crackled through over the radio.

Two could play this game.

"The is the Cold Soldier, comin' to you live from somewhere North of West. What you can I do for you brother?" James heard laughter from the other end of the connection.

"I assume you have something to say since you're calling in."

" _You assume too much. Though, I think there was something to talk about._ "

James smiled to himself, shaking his head. "Did you want to go over the details mission?"

" _That's what is was! See, I couldn't remember that because there was nothing to remind me of what I wanted to talk about._ "

James shook his head at Nightwing's sarcasm. "I'm starting to see why Batman fired you."

" _Ouch! And for the record, I quit. Does everyone think I was fired?_ "

"No. It's just a rumor. I'm not sure how it started. It was a little before my time here."

" _I bet you haven't said that in a while._ "

"No, no I haven't." James smirked to himself as he pulled the copy of the protocol he had made for SR. "Thank you for doing this." He said.

" _No problem,_ " Nightwing replied. " _It's just a rescue mission into hostile territory in an area I'm unfamiliar with on super short notice on literally no sleep. No sweat! I mean, seriously, give me a challenge!_ "

"Are you asking for another mission?"

" _From you? No. From SHIELD, h*** no!_ " James could not keep a soft chuckle from his throat. If this kid ever got out of 'superhero business' he'd make a good actor or comedian.

* * *

Dick thought of something he wanted to ask, but was not sure if he should. He hesitated, but finally decided to risk it. "You really care about her, don't you?"

" _She's a great ally._ " Came the careful answer.

"Right. Okay." Dick knew there was more but thought it better not to push, at least not right now.

" _I want you to know, I will repay you._ "

"If you mean literally 'pay', then no thanks. That's not how I roll."

" _I mean a favor. My services; anytime, anywhere. No questions asked._ "

"Oh. In that case you own me two!"

" _How so?_ " Winter Soldier asked, indignant.

"For this, and breaking my ribs the first time we met. You really didn't have to do that, you know."

Dick heard his chuckle. " _True, but I like putting overconfident brats in their place._ "

"Was I truly overconfidence since you had to come to me for help?"

There was a pause. " _Touche._ "

For a while they were both silent, until-

"Wait a second; if you're 'dead' then how do I find you when I want to collect?"

" _You're a Bat. You'll find a way._ "

Dick shook his head and rolled his eyes.

* * *

James took a bite of his sandwich.

" _So, you ever get tired of working for SHIELD? Seems like a pretty harsh work environment._ " Nightwing asked.

James' considered ignoring this as he washed down his lunch with soda. It was a tactical question, he knew. Nightwing wanted to know more about the situation at SHIELD that had lead the two of them to this moment.

"It works." _"I guess."_

" _Except when it doesn't._ " Nightwing said no doubt alluding to their current situation.

"Not a good enough reason to stop using it." _"I guess."_

"No, I guess not. Not unless something else proves to be better." James heard the proud tone in Nightwing's voice. The Justice League was a success without question; however, James couldn't help think that SHIELD somehow kept them in line.

A stretch of silence reached between them. For a few minutes there was nothing but the crackle of the radio.

"What's it like working with Batman?"

" _Hard. Rewarding. But mostly hard. It's worse these days._ "

"I'm sorry about Robin."

" _You already said so, but thanks, again._ "

"Were things better when you were Robin?"

* * *

"Oh yeah! Batman actually smiled from time to time, if you can believe it." Dick smiled to himself, thinking of his father and how he had been all those years ago.

" _I'm not sure I can. n'Here I thought the bats were all serious types._ "

"Oh I'm the 'white sheep' of the family for sure. My father's very disappointed."

" _Oh, I see._ "

* * *

James looked at the clock on the opposite wall. It was less than ten hours to Russia, and Nightwing needed time to prepare. "Why don't you go to sleep" he heard Nightwing laugh on the other end, "It'll be several hours before you arrive."

" _Good idea, thanks Dad._"

James rolled his eyes, smiling. "You're welcome son." James was checking the ethernet connection when,

" _You love her, don't you._ " Nightwing said suddenly.

"Why do you say that?"

" _I could see it in your face. You may be the worlds greatest spy, but you're still human. Besides, you're not very good at hiding your emotions._ " James mentally bit his lip as Nightwing continued, " _I also know what I'd be willing to do for my loved ones. I'll bring her back to you, I promise._ "

"I know."

* * *

 **Sorry I'm late! Real life decided to happen real quick, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon so I'll be continuing with my by-weekly posting schedule. Sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed!**


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